Sunday, August 14, 2011

I'M BACK!

Wow. What a crazy ride this past week and a half has been.

I got back to South Dakota late late at night on the 4th. Kate came to get me because she is the greatest thing since sliced bread! We did not want to take the long drawn out trip home so we went out of our way to get taco bell and gas and drove back to OLL where I spent the night on Kate's floor. It was just magical! :)

The morning of the 5th we got up nice and early (no sleeping in aloud!)...by early I mean 8. We took Kate's boys to the DMV in Pine Ridge to get their bus drivers licenses! OOT! It was ridiculous as always. After that I FINALLY made it to my knew home at the Grey house. I set to work making my room into a nest and I am quite happy with the result.

Saturday I went on a grand field trip to the Pow Wow with a good chunk of volunteers. And...drum roll...FINALLY GOT TO SEE MISS JESSIE! I missed her sooooo much!

This is the part where I lose track of days and everything is just a great tornado-blur. Oy! We went camping in the black hills and it was SO beautiful...as usual. We had a fantastic time and it was so so great...we went swimming in a great cool lake...and by cool i mean temperature...we went on a morning hike to the dam...cooked out lots and lots of hot dogs and black bean burgers (yum).

The next morning we went for our yearly trip to Sylvan Lake and there was SO MUCH bikers. Hello sturgis season. The best part was that the minute we pulled in...it began to poor...and hail...and poor...and hail. It was hot...and cold...and hot..and cold. But we still had fun, some people went swimming, more power to them...but i did not. The majority of us went to Hill City for lunch and a break from hiding in the car. We ate at some crazy dinner and it was just wonderful and delicious. Om nom nom. We then traversed to Crazy Horse Memorial...which I have never been to...and is a very impressive, and large.

The next big adventure was to depart...at 5:30 in the morning...for St. Paul Minnesota! OOT! Our volunteer retreat this year was a trip to go see Joshua (who was with us last year) and other Jesuit Novices take their first vows. We also rode a school bus...all together...one yellow school bus...and all the volunteers. Oh man. It was something. It took us about 13 hours to get to St. Paul and I have never been so excited to walk around in my life. :P

A group of us went out to dinner at the first wonderful restaurant we found. It was a delicious meal...I had yet another veggie burger. I can't wait for the year to start and I can eat food that is not a veggie burger...as delectable as they are. We tried to go to the hot tub after but it was already closed. sad day :( so we watched That 70s Show and hung out and went to beddy-by.

We spent the next morning getting emotionally naked which we all know is just my faves. Despite that I think it went really well and was a really great start to having an open and honest community this year. Then we traversed to the novitiate to talk to the baby jezies who were going to take vows AND got to see Joshua perform Pine Ridge State of Mind again. Fabulous! Then there was a huge food eating party, they sure know how to live it up.

Kate and I went on a love walk and have officially decided that after we complete our schooling in Boston we will be moving to St. Paul and if we can not find an apartment we will take up residence in the Governors Mansion. Its gonna be juuuust great. That night we went to the vigil and then when we got back to the hotel we found out it was KARAOKE NIGHT AT THE HOTEL! Needless to say it was a blast and a half.

The next morning was the vow ceremony and the reception and then it was back on the bus with us. We drove to Sioux Falls where we stayed in a hotel complete with WATER PARK! I forgot how much I LOVE water slides...they are just great. I wish I could be a kid forever but alas I will just have to settle for a child like wonder of life. Claire, Joe, and I went to play on the Pirate Ship that was in the kiddy pool...it had a great slide too, even though it was much smaller. We also had some slide races before returning to the hot tub to relax before bed.

Then it was time for another early morning. We loaded up the bus and started on our way to Rosebud to attend 11:30 mass and listen to a talk from Br. Pat...hes kinda B.A. I was most excited when we stepped off the bus and i realized that the church was PURPLE! Later we found out that the church was panted purple because the adults could not come to a decision so the priest decided to ask the children what color they wanted it to be and that is what they chose. There was some upset about this obviously, and one little girl said to her grandma "I thought children where sacred" and her grandma said they were and her retort was "Then why are they making fun of our choice?" And this is why I love children.

After Pat's talk we loaded up the bus one last time and started to voyage home...and here I am...sitting in my classroom. Hurray. Inservice starts tomorrow so I must be sure to get lots and lots of rest. As soon as I have a moment I will add pictures to this very very long blog post.